


When I against myself with thee partake

by ConvenientAlias



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Arranged Marriage, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Intrigue, Not Compliant with Avatar Comics, Post-Canon, Rehabilitation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-11 20:03:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19933714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConvenientAlias/pseuds/ConvenientAlias
Summary: Firelord Zuko wants Azula to marry Ty Lee so the other nations will stop asking for custody of her.Ty Lee wants to marry Azula to give her another chance at life.Azula wants to marry Ty Lee so she can get out of prison.So love has nothing to do with it, really. Except in the ways it does.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Soulstoned](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soulstoned/gifts).



On the third day after the third anniversary of the coronation of Firelord Zuko, Azula receives two visitors a couple hours apart.

The first one is a woman she has not seen in some months. Ty Lee, who visits occasionally and never stays long because all their conversations erupt into arguments. That’s deliberate on Azula’s part. Ty Lee always seems to want to make amends, something Azula has no desire to do—and she wants Azula to apologize, something Azula wants to do even less. So what’s the use of talking to her? She never has anything actually useful or interesting to say.

Until today, that is. Today she has quite an interesting proposition—more Zuko’s idea than hers, of course, but still interesting. And to her credit, she drops it with all the subtlety of the bombshell she knows it is: “Zuko’s arranging for us to be married.”

Azula leans back against the stone wall of her cell. “Really? He hasn’t mentioned this to me.”

“I asked to be the one to tell you.”

It’s funny, it’s really funny. Azula, of course, has known about the marriage arrangements for a while now. She might be in prison but she has her resources. It’s funny that Ty Lee comes to her like this, thinking she can shake Azula up with the news. She wonders if Ty Lee thinks of this as a very painful responsibility. She’s been wondering as much about Ty Lee’s views on the arranged marriage itself—her sources have not offered insight there, and she’s always had a hard time reading Ty Lee’s poker face.

But Ty Lee’s still waiting for an answer, and Azula really shouldn’t laugh. It’s an important moment, after all. So she just raises her eyebrows. “Are you going to propose then? Get down on your knees?”

“It’s being arranged already,” Ty Lee says. “So I’m telling you, not asking.” She steps a bit closer to the cell’s bars. “…I think you should cooperate, Azula.”

It would be quite a show, wouldn’t it, if they had to drag Azula in with a straitjacket on, if they had to force her to sit through the ceremony with a gag in her mouth to stop her from screaming out a refusal. No doubt they could figure out a way to make it work, but Azula will have to deprive them of that fun. She sniffs. “I never said I intended to refuse, did I?”

Ty Lee looks at her warily.

“After all the times you’ve said you love me,” Azula says with mock sincerity, “what woman could refuse? And you know I’ve always liked you, Ty Lee.”

Ty Lee turns away. “Don’t joke about it.” A breath. “I’m glad you’ve decided to cooperate.”

“Of course. But do tell Zuko to come talk to me about it,” Azula says. “I’m sure hearing his reasons will be quite entertaining.”

* * *

The second visitor Azula receives is a man who comes by often. He is the one who told her about the arrangements Zuko was making for her to marry Ty Lee. He told her the reasons, too: the other nations have been trying to get their hands on her for years, some wanting to see her punished more harshly for her crimes and others hoping to use her to secure an alliance. If Azula is married to a Fire Nation noble, then the other nations will stop trying to seek a political marriage with her, and they will be somewhat put off trying to obtain her transfer as a prisoner. Such is the hope, and Azula doesn’t exactly disapprove—though she does think Zuko wouldn’t have so much trouble with diplomacy if he’d just flex his power once in a while to give the other nations a good scare. But Zuko lets the other nations walk all over him on purpose, trying to make amends for the Fire Nation’s past at the expense of the Fire Nation’s present. He is an idiot.

At any rate, today the man has news that is more his usual. He is one of Ozai’s Loyalists, and he has updates for her on the organization’s activities.

“We’ve made connections in Ba Sing Se,” he says. “You told me to look into what’s left of the Dai Li. We’ve made contact with an organization similar to ours—Ba Sing Se citizens who want you to return to power. They say that King Kuon’s return to power is the worst thing that’s ever happened to the city.”

Ba Sing Se’s citizens always have had a problem with selective memory. And the Dai Li… she knew the first time she saw them that they chafed at the current administration. That’s why she floated the suggestion to see if any of them missed her, and apparently she was right.

She sneers. “King Kuon… Hard to believe the Earth Kingdom really welcomed him back.”

“He is royalty,” her contact reminds her. “Even if the Earth Kingdom royalty has never been as noble as ours.”

She accepts the compliment. “Keep me updated on any new developments. This alliance with the Dai Li may prove fruitful, if there are enough of them left. We’ll see.”

“Yes, Firelord.” (That’s what he calls her. He and all of Ozai’s Loyalists have never accepted Zuko’s ascension to power, and still see her claim to the throne as legitimate.)

“But don’t act yet. Ba Sing Se is too strong. And see what can be done to quiet the revolts here in the Fire Nation. They all fail—it makes us look weak.”

Respectfully, he doesn’t say anything about how much weaker it looks that she, the best hope of the Loyalists, has spent the past three years in prison. And soon will be married to a low-ranking noble to keep her under Zuko’s thumb.

Of course, he doesn’t have to say it for Azula to know it.

* * *

Azula is let out of prison a couple days before her wedding. It’s her first time outside the building in three years, and the Fire Nation palace—her destination—has changed. There are less flags up, and the paintings of Ozai, Azulon, and even Sozin have all been taken down, replaced with images of Zuko, of Mai, of the Avatar and his former incarnations. It disgusts her how Zuko denigrates their history, but it’s not much different from what she expected.

She is given the couple days to adjust. To stretch her limbs. To try on the clothes prepared for her for the wedding, and to review all of the arrangements (not that she is given the option of changing them). And then her wedding day arrives.

The ceremony is more or less private. Despite her acquiescence, Zuko must still be worried that she will break into a fit of screaming or try to murder Ty Lee at the last moment in order to get out of the marriage. So there are a couple diplomats present to witness, some high-ranking Fire Nation officials, a few of Zuko’s friends, Mai, and Ty Lee’s family. And that is all. The ceremony is held in the throne room, and the huge room is almost empty.

It is not how Azula pictured her wedding to be when she was a child, but for a disgraced princess (Firelord, but only briefly) it’s about right.

She and Ty Lee wear the traditional gowns, and veils over their faces. They sit across from each other at a long table. On Azula’s side, Zuko and Mai and a few others—including the Avatar, she notices with repugnance. On Ty Lee’s side, her six sisters and her parents, all looking a little bit on edge but still smiling. Like Ty Lee, they know how to hold a poker face.

Iroh is the only one not seated. He has brought in a pot of tea—hand-brewed doubtless, though that is not required for the ceremony—and he pours out cups for every person at the table slowly and carefully. Azula doesn’t look at him when he pours her cup, and he doesn’t look at her.

“We are gathered today to celebrate the union of two women, and of our two families,” he said, sitting down at the head of the table at last. “I am happy to preside over this union, and thank our witnesses for joining us.”

The diplomats and functionaries, standing at the back, offered shallow bows of gratitude.

Iroh drones on for a while about the value of marriage and what it will mean for Azula and Ty Lee’s future. Azula doesn’t listen. She finds herself thinking of dreams she shoved aside in prison, of her father presiding over her wedding and speaking of how her marriage was significant to the Fire Nation, how her heirs would become Fire Nation royalty. She thinks of how many people she imagined would be there—the ceremony held outside to accommodate all of them, and celebrating throughout the city streets. She thinks about all the people she pictured marrying, high ranking men and women from the Fire Nation mostly, and then briefly of a sillier dream she once had, of marrying Ty Lee at such a ceremony and the two of them swearing eternal love and partnership and meaning it. The thought is like a coal, too hot to touch, and she lets it drop away.

She never entertained that dream for long, anyhow, only idly at times. Ozai would never have let her marry someone as low-ranking as Ty Lee, whose family is titled but not as powerful as some. And the idea of marrying for love in general was a ridiculous thing, suited only for plays and novels.

She starts paying attention again when Zuko speaks, commencing the more important part of the ceremony. “I am here today in my father’s stead to give away my sister, Azula, as head of the royal family. I ask that your family receive her and care for her as one of your own.”

As if that’s even possible. Azula shoots a look at one of the Ty sisters, but they’re all looking at Zuko so it goes unnoticed.

Ty Lee’s father says, “I am here as head of the Ty family to give away my daughter, Ty Lee. I ask that your family receive her and care for her as one of your own.”

With this, everyone at the table drinks some of the tea that Iroh poured. A few comment on the excellent flavor, subtle yet vibrant. Azula swirls hers around in her mouth. It’s good, and it tempts her to relax. She swallows. She does not relax.

Zuko and Ty Lee’s father say some more things back and forth, and Azula largely watches Ty Lee’s sisters’ reactions, but by accident her gaze skitters over to Ty Lee herself, who is looking right back at Azula.

She starts when their eyes meet, but doesn’t look away. Instead she tilts her head, raises her eyebrows. Azula wonders what the question is, and only raises hers back, then laughs a little. Then stops herself. She and Ty Lee don’t share private looks and private jokes anymore—they are not friends, and this is not a friendly affair.

Zuko and Ty Lee’s father exchange envelopes containing dowries. They look at the contents of the envelopes quietly—pledges for goods and funds, probably, but nothing they will tell the dignitaries present for the time being—and thank each other for the generosity. And then at last it is Ty Lee and Azula’s turn to speak.

Ty Lee goes first. “I pledge my loyalty to the royal house, and my faithfulness to my bride, Azula. I will honor her and cherish her all the days of my life, and know no other until death do us part.”

And then it’s Azula’s turn. Again, everyone looks at her as if they expect her to start a fight. She merely clears her throat and says the same thing as Ty Lee, omitting the part about the royal house and substituting Ty Lee’s name for her own.

And what’s done is done. Azula and Ty Lee each cut off a single lock of their hair (Azula shudders a little at the memory of the last time she hacked at her hair, but that’s neither here nor there, is it) and pass them to Iroh. Iroh puts the locks of hair along with a stick of incense into a small incense burner, and sets the incense and the hair on fire. Smoke and scent rise out, and the ceremony is complete. They are espoused, now and forever—Ty Lee is now Princess Consort of the Fire Nation, and Azula is now on a convenient leash for Zuko’s use.

Those at the table finish their tea in silence, while the diplomats and functionaries chatter quietly in the background.

* * *

When the tea is drunk and some final words have been said, Ty Lee and Azula are led with great ceremony to their bedroom in a suite of the royal palace, and there they are, alone at last, except for the guards outside the door. It will probably be many years before Zuko trusts Azula enough to leave her with guards, if ever.

(If no one deposes or murders him first.)

They are alone and Ty Lee is looking at Azula guardedly, more so than during the ceremony. Back to normal then, the new normal. It’s funny, and Azula laughs.

“Do you think I’m going to murder you on the night of our nuptials?” she asks. “I vowed to honor you and cherish you, didn’t I? My word has never been bad.”

Ty Lee says, “Why did you agree to this marriage, Azula?”

“Because I found you too beautiful to resist,” Azula sneers.

Ty Lee crosses her arms. “You might as well tell me. It’s already done.”

“Fine.” Her reasons are simple enough anyway, and they are probably obvious to Ty Lee already, even if she’s asking. “I heard Zuko would let me out of prison if I married you, and begin my process of… rehabilitation. Treat me like his sister instead of his prisoner.” She smiles widely. “I thought it would be nice to have a golden cage instead of one made of iron and stone. Call me shallow.”

It’s advantageous to her in every way, she knows, to get out of prison. If she wants to get any of her real power and influence back, any of her former respect, she can’t do it in here. It’s not just that she’s a coward. It’s not just that she hates sleeping on a rough pallet, that she missed spending more than an hour outside every day, that the food was disgusting and the dark grey color of the walls grated on her nerves and the guards who weren’t on her side made lewd comments. It’s not that she couldn’t deal with prison, or that she’s surrendering to Zuko’s whim. This is her own decision, doing this.

And he probably would have forced her to go through with it anyway, so it hardly matters.

“What’s more of a question is why you agreed to marry me, Ty Lee. From what I’ve heard you even volunteered. So?”

Ty Lee says, “I wanted you to get out of prison too. You know I’ve always believed you could change, given the chance.”

“Change. Because I’m such a monster as I am now.”

Ty Lee bites her lip.

“Are you really such an altruist, then? Or… perhaps not. Remember I know you, Ty Lee.” Azula steps closer and puts a hand on Ty Lee’s arm. “It’s all right. You can admit you wanted to be a princess. I always thought you should be more ambitious.”

“I’m not…”

“What, you don’t like the honor of marrying me? Former Fire Lord and princess of the Fire Nation still?” Azula’s hand trembles. Of course there is little prestige in marrying a disgraced woman, but Zuko will be bound to offer Ty Lee privileges anyhow, and he’s probably giving her family an obscene amount of money in the dowry. He has his honor. But Ty Lee looks at her stubbornly, and she knows her blade isn’t hitting home. She takes another guess, “All right then. I see. You just wanted a chance to fuck me.”

Ty Lee turns as pink as the clothes she wears when there isn’t a wedding ceremony to attend, and Azula grins. Yes, Ty Lee still has some of the same old weak points. Still embarrassed of her own desires, and yet she’s let desire for Azula drag her this far…

Azula unties her robe and lets it slide off her shoulders, leaving her in only underthings. She begins to untie Ty Lee’s robe as well, and Ty Lee grabs her wrists. “Azula!”

Azula gives her an icy glare. Even if they’re married, it’s not Ty Lee’s place to manhandle royalty.

“Azula, I don’t…”

“We should consummate the marriage, shouldn’t we?” Azula says. “And I know you want me. You bound yourself to a psycho just for a taste.” She leans in, breath on Ty Lee’s neck. “Don’t be shy, Ty Lee. It doesn’t suit you.”

When she kisses Ty Lee’s neck, she can feel her pulse, already quickening. It might be panic just as easily as arousal, but Azula doesn’t care either way. She mouths Ty Lee’s tendons, sucks at the juncture of her collarbone, until Ty Lee lets go of her wrists and takes her by the waist instead.

“We-we don’t have to,” she says uncertainly. “Not if you don’t want to.”

Azula ignores her. She doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to anyhow.

Now that Ty Lee has stopped hampering her, she can undress Ty Lee with ease, and does so. It’s been a while since she’s last seen Ty Lee naked, and she notes the changes. Ty Lee’s grown somewhat, and her muscles are even more toned than before. Azula runs her hands over Ty Lee’s tensed stomach, making her squeal a little. But she doesn’t grab Azula’s hands again, so she’s showing the proper respect.

“Azula,” she says, “Can I—can I touch you?”

She is much meeker now than she was on her trips to visit Azula in prison. It’s easy to talk tough when there are bars protecting you, Azula supposes, but up close and personal, not so much.

“Of course you can touch me,” Azula says. “I’m yours, aren’t I? Zuzu gave you to me. It was all very official.” She pulls the tie out of Ty Lee’s hair and begins to unwind the braid in it, a more complicated braid than her usual.

Ty Lee says, “Listen, Azula…”

Azula has no interest in listening. She kisses Ty Lee on the lips and keeps kissing her until she’s sure Ty Lee has no room left in her head for thinking, for arguing. Then she pulls her over to the bed and lies down with her.


	2. Chapter 2

Azula manages to avoid talking that way for a long time.

But at night, neither of them can sleep very well. They lie awake together. Not very close—the bed is big enough that there is no need for them to touch, or share a pillow, or breathe in each other’s breath. Outside there are crickets singing, and the quiet, consistent footsteps of patrolling guards.

“I didn’t marry you because I wanted to fuck you,” Ty Lee says.

Azula says, “Of course not.”

“I didn’t! Not that I didn’t enjoy it, but I was telling the truth. I really want to see you get another chance to be happy, Azula. We all do.”

That, Azula thinks, depends strongly on Ty Lee’s definition of “we all”.

“And,” Ty Lee says, “I didn’t want you to have to marry someone who… well, some of the people offering weren’t very nice. I didn’t want you to be stuck with someone who hates you and would treat you badly, or someone who wants to use you for political advantage.”

As if Ty Lee doesn’t hate her. Azula knows better than that.

“I’ve always said you deserve someone who’ll love you,” Ty Lee says.

“And that’s you?”

Ty Lee turns over. “I should know you never listen to me.”

Azula snorts.

“Really, though. I just wanted to protect you. I hope you’re not mad.”

“Of all the things I’m angry at you about,” Azula says, “your offering to marry me is not on the list. Stop worrying.” She sighs.

“Oh. Okay.” A moment of silence. “It’s nice that you’re out of prison now, though.”

Azula doesn’t answer. She thinks to agree would show weakness.

“Good night.”

* * *

It is a little offensive that Ty Lee thinks Azula needs protection. Quite a misconception. If Zuko had chosen a spouse that Azula didn’t like, she would have found some way out of the situation. Either talked Zuko out of it, or gotten her contacts to pull some strings, or quite possibly just have dealt with the objectionable spouse herself, by whatever means necessary. She never needed a savior, but on the whole, Ty Lee is not the worst wife Azula could have. She’s a traitor, and she’s condescendingly well-intentioned with her whole idea that Azula has to rehabilitate herself, but at least Azula knows her and knows her to be somewhat malleable. And sleeping with her was quite nice.

(She used to think about fucking Ty Lee, think about it far more than she should have. Because she knew Ty Lee wanted her. Because Ty Lee was, for at least the duration of the mission, always around—and around often enough afterwards, around when Azula needed her. Because Ty Lee was soft and sweet and strong, all at the same time, and Azula felt a little tingle every time she heard her laugh.

She never acted on it until now, though. Sex led to attachment, attachment to weakness. Azula wasn’t weak. She still isn’t weak—but with the marriage, she thinks, sex is the least of her current attachment to Ty Lee, who has been assigned to her as a ball and chain. She might as well allow herself some pleasure. And, she thinks, it will give her power over Ty Lee as well—and in her current position, she needs all the power she can get.)

In any case. As a spouse, Ty Lee is adequate. She demonstrates her competence in the weeks following the wedding, as visitors arrive to offer wary congratulations. All of them vetted by Zuko, of course, and searched by guards before they are even allowed to enter the suite where Azula resides. But there are still a decent number of them.

Many of them are Ty Lee’s friend. The most memorable, perhaps, is the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki. Friend of the Avatar. And Ty Lee’s companion for the year or so following the end of the war. The year or so when Azula had just been cast into prison and had no visitors except an angry Zuko, certainly no Ty Lee.

Azula doesn’t like Suki very much.

But she still greets her with a polite smile and inquires what she and the Kyoshi Warriors are doing in the capital.

“Diplomacy in the Earth King’s name,” Suki replies. “But,” she adds, glancing at Ty Lee, “I’ll admit we volunteered mostly because we heard a friend was getting married, and wanted to be there.”

Ty Lee, Azula can tell, is barely holding back a delighted squeal. She gave Suki a hug when she first came in and now is hovering at Azula’s side, resisting the urge to throw herself on Suki all over again and basically hang off her arm. It really makes you wonder, this kind of glee at seeing another woman.

“How did the wedding go?”

“It was great! Zuko and my dad represented the families. General Iroh was the arbiter. It went off without a hitch.” Ty Lee grins and Suki basically sighs in relief, and Azula wonders just how problematic they expected the wedding to be.

Although of course she can imagine.

“So… you two are living together now?”

“Yes.”

“And Ty Lee, you’re going to be staying in the capital now?”

Ty Lee glances at Azula. Although it’s been a few days now since the wedding, they haven’t really discussed the future.

Azula says, “Obviously I won’t object if Ty Lee wants to go traveling again. This is a marriage of convenience—I’ll hardly whine if I’m left alone for a while. And I think Zuko has me adequately guarded that the absence of my personal keeper shouldn’t be an issue.”

Ty Lee smiles tightly, frankly ignores everything Azula has said, and says to Suki, “I think I’ll be staying here for the time being. We’re just married after all. And Azula just got out of prison.”

“That’s understandable,” Suki says. She gives Azula an unreadable look. Then, “but if you ever want to come back to the Kyoshi Warriors, we’ll still accept you. Even if you are a Fire Nation princess now.”

Azula grits her teeth.

Ty Lee slips an arm around her waist, a proprietary gesture that’s somewhat surprising. She says, “Perhaps you could offer us news from the Earth Kingdom. Nothing confidential, obviously, but how is everyone?”

They sit down in the suite’s parlor and chat for a while. Azula doesn’t say much; she doesn’t have much to say. She wants to hiss at this woman, whom she herself brought low during the war—whom she saw in prison, miserable, degraded, weak. She wants to ask her who she thinks she is that she can act friendly with Ty Lee, and equal (in manner) to a Fire Nation princess. But she is well aware that her own disgrace precludes that kind of mockery, so she forebears.

She doesn’t even make a properly acidic remark when Ty Lee asks, after maybe half an hour of small talk, if Suki might go into the other room with her to talk a bit in private. She just clenches her fists and says that of course she doesn’t mind, she doesn’t need Ty Lee to amuse her.

But when the door is closed—and they chose to go into the bedroom, of all places—she can’t help her paranoia. Of course Ty Lee isn’t fool enough to cheat on Azula the first week of their marriage. She has to know Azula wouldn’t let her get away with that. But, but, but.

So although it would make her look foolish if anyone could see, she stands with her ear to the door and eavesdrops.

“…similar experience,” Ty Lee is saying. A pause. “I’m sorry if it’s a sensitive subject.”

“No. I understand.” Suki’s voice. “It’s a good thing you didn’t ask me when we first met, though. I would have murdered you.”

Ty Lee giggles nervously. Azula resists the urge to burst into the room for reasons other than the ones she expected—she doesn’t like people making Ty Lee act apologetic.

But Suki sighs, and says, “Prison really can mess you up. I was only in briefly, and I don’t really think about it anymore. But you saw how it affected some of the other Warriors.”

“I know how it affected me,” Ty Lee says. Quiet—Azula can barely hear her.

“You know, Azula’s the one who put us both there,” Suki says. “You kind of have to wonder why you care so much about her.”

“I—”

“You don’t have to answer that. I know how you feel about her.” A sigh. “But you know, she wasn’t exactly pleasant before she went to prison either.”

“You didn’t know her then.”

“I knew enough to know she would bow down to Zuko. It must be humiliating. I’m not surprised the two of you are fighting.”

“That’s not what worries me!”

“Then what does?”

“I know Azula hates having to do what Zuko says, and she hates me for going against her, and I know she can be nasty. I knew that going into this; honestly, she’s not as bad as I expected her to be. But… I worry about her. We sleep in the same bed, you know, and sometimes she has nightmares. And sometimes when we’re alone, she stares off into the distance, and she just… she looks so sad. I don’t know what to do about it.” Ty Lee’s voice is miserable. “I think prison really changed her, Suki.”

A brief silence. Azula grits her teeth.

She’s been putting plenty of effort into this marriage, into talking to Ty Lee—sometimes arguing with Ty Lee, but talking—and acting polite around guests, and Ty Lee decides to harp on how Azula acts when she’s relaxed? How dare she?

Suki’s voice. “Look, Ty Lee, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“I can’t not worry about it. She’s hurting, and I don’t know what to do. I used to always be able to make her smile.”

“The war changed all of us.” Firm. “It’s not your fault, and it’s not your responsibility to fix her.”

“I know it’s not. But I took it on. I married her.”

“Yes, but that’s not…” Pause. “Well, I wouldn’t do any of the things you’ve done, Ty Lee. But… don’t worry about it too much, all right? If Azula wants to talk to you, she’ll talk to you. Otherwise, she’s lucky to have someone like you here for her. But these things take time.”

“I know. I just…”

“It’s okay.”

A sigh. “All right. Thanks, Suki. You always give good advice. And I appreciate you coming. I know you don’t like Azula.”

“Well, obviously I…”

Azula finally moves away from the door.

It’s all drivel. Ty Lee’s concerned about her? If she was concerned about Azula in prison, she could have tried to help her escape. Or just not betrayed her and left her as easy prey for Zuko and his waterbending friend in the first place. It’s the same reason she always used to get mad when Ty Lee visited her in prison with all those good intentions: too little, too late.

And now she and Suki will probably trash talk Azula for the rest of the visit.

Still, when she emerges with Suki in tow, she drops a kiss on Azula’s cheek as if to apologize for leaving her by herself, even for a conversation that didn’t even last an hour. And Azula finds herself fighting the urge to feel relieved when Suki leaves and Ty Lee sits down with Azula to sort through some mail they’ve received and talk about plans for the next day. She feels oddly relieved, as if some danger has passed, though what, she’d be hard pressed to say.

* * *

She’s surprised by how much time Ty Lee spends in her presence. She expected Ty Lee, after marrying her, to remain available when people visited them, and the rest of the time to be out with friends or exploring the city or doing anything to avoid her terrifying wife. But instead Ty Lee stays in, drinks tea with Azula and talks to her about current events and gossip, has sex with her nearly every night. Even though Azula insults her, ignores her, does everything she can to show that she won’t be moved—they aren’t _friends_ again, and this marriage is a matter of convenience for her, not of love. She really does do everything she can without resorting to physical assault but none of it has an effect. Ty Lee is determined to make this marriage work somehow, and when Ty Lee is determined, as Azula very well knows, she can be quite persistent.

Azula finds she doesn’t actually mind having Ty Lee around as much as she expected she would. As the days pass, she gives up on constantly starting arguments with her. The impulse is no longer so strong. She even feels an odd tingle of pleasure when Ty Lee lets her know that she’ll be in for the evening, or comes back from an errand. Stupid, of course, but as long as she hides it…

Well, she might as well be getting some measure of happiness from this marriage, right? Even if it’s just a matter of convenience.

So her days with Ty Lee are somewhat pleasant, even if they are a bit monotonous. She can’t leave the suite, not yet, still under house arrest, so apart from visitors, nothing really happens. She hasn’t even heard from Ozai’s Loyalists lately—apparently they find it harder to get past Zuko’s screening in the palace than in prison. That or they’ve given up on communicating with her entirely, decided she is, for the time being, useless to their cause.

The thought should make her panic. Or it should infuriate her. It should not make her feel as if a weight has lifted off her shoulders, and she can sit back and relax.

* * *

One evening Ty Lee tells Azula, “We’re going out.”

Azula asks, “You’re going out with who?”

She hopes none of the Avatar’s friends are in town just now, or any of the Kyoshi Warriors. Of course Ty Lee has other friends in town, but those re the ones she finds the most annoying—she still sometimes can’t believe Ty Lee is so comfortable with the enemy. It makes her sick to her stomach, like the Boiling Rock all over again, new betrayal every time. Ty Lee used to say when she visited Azula in prison that there was no enemy anymore, if Azula could only accept it. But Azula knew at the time that only meant that the new enemy was Azula herself, and those who remained loyal.

(Now, she knows, Ty Lee and Zuko and the rest are only comfortable treating her as a friend because in accepting this marriage she’s bent the knee. Shown her subservience. If she ever rebels, she’ll see how quickly they turn on her again.)

Ty Lee is looking at her with a strange expression, making Azula’s own face freeze into position. “With you, Azula. I mean, you and I are going out tonight.”

Azula’s eyebrows arch. “Don’t be a tease, Ty Lee. You know I’m not allowed out of this wing of the palace.”

“I got permission from Zuko. He said we could go for a walk in the gardens, as long as there were guards posted at the gate. So there are guards posted, and… do you want to go out?”

Like asking a caged bird if it wants to fly.

“It would be nice,” Azula says, biting back the urge to cry _Yes, yes_ , and fling herself on Ty Lee like an idiot. “I suppose I should be grateful to you for arranging it all.”

“You don’t have to be. I’m sorry it took this long for me to get Zuko to agree to it.”

“Have you been trying, then?”

“Well… for a while.”

Azula can’t help it. The corner of her mouth quirks into a smile, and she offers Ty Lee a kiss. “Then well done.”

She puts on only the same clothes as usual, with a bit more attention to her hair and the neatness of her jacket. She is not going to dress up just to walk in the gardens—it is no formal affair, no special occasion, and she won’t treat it as such. But her heartbeat quickens when she and Ty Lee are allowed to step out into the evening air. It’s cooler outside than she expected, and Ty Lee leans against her, maybe relishing her warmth.

They used to share heat like this sometimes, when they journeyed to colder regions of the Earth Kingdom. Not usually in the Fire Nation, though—either Ty Lee has gotten weak, or she’s looking for an excuse for them to touch. Azula carefully slides an arm around her waist. Her midriff is bared by the clothes she’s wearing, and Azula’s hand touches warm, goose-bumped skin.

“Oh, we’re out later than I thought,” Ty Lee says when they reach the garden. “The flowers have all closed up. I’m sorry, Azula.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Azula says. “What do I care about the flowers?” Though they are beautiful, even closed. But really, why should she care? She and Ty Lee have had plenty of flowers sent to their room in congratulations for their wedding. For that matter, there’s been plenty of fresh air through their window. The garden is just another extension of her royal prison—a brief excursion doesn’t matter, doesn’t matter at all—

Her grip tightens on Ty Lee’s waist.

Ty Lee says, “Azula? Is something wrong?”

“No, of course not.” Azula sits down on the edge of a fountain. “Not more than usual.”

It’s a fountain where she and Ty Lee and Mai often played as kids, walking around the edges, sometimes shoving each other in, though no one ever shoved Azula in and got away with it. She dabs a hand into the water, feeling its coolness.

“And usually?”

“You know better than to ask that, Ty Lee.”

“I think maybe I should ask, though,” Ty Lee says. “I know you’re hurting, Azula, all the time. I wish you’d tell me what I could do to help.”

Her eyes are wide, sincere. Vulnerable in their sincerity. _Go back in time to the Boiling Rock and stay by my side_ , Azula wants to say. _What can you do to help me now?_

But Ty Lee reaches into the water and grasps Azula’s hand, and Azula finds herself wordless.

The sound that finally breaks the silence does not come from either of them. It’s a ragged scream coming from the edge of the garden. Azula springs to her feet at the same time as Ty Lee, scans the perimeter for any threat. The wind smells of smoke, just a little smoke, the amount firebending generates without fuel. She wonders if they will still fight well together, if they have to…

The man who emerges, coming down the pathway of the garden, is familiar. She knows him by the name Biming. He is not the contact who regularly visited her in prison, but he is one of them. One of Ozai’s Loyalists.

“Firelord Azula,” he greets her. “Queen Consort Ty Lee.”

Ty Lee steps back. Away from Biming—also away from Azula. “Who are you?”

“We can get you out of the city now,” Biming says, still addressing Azula. “Are you ready to come?”

Azula blinks. Then, gathering her wits, she says, “You’re getting ahead of yourself. No one informed me there was any plan for me to abscond from the capital. I thought I told you it would be better for me to stay in place.”

Ty Lee says, “You know this guy?”

She doesn’t relax any.

Biming says, “The point of you remaining in the capital was for you to report to us any news of the court.”

“Well, that hardly covers all of it.”

“Regardless, there is no advantage in your current position. You are still too heavily guarded, and the usurper prince offers you no trust. If you leave with us tonight, we can have you in Ba Sing Se in a month’s time.” He holds out his hand. “Come with us, Firelord. We can protect you, and give you back what you deserve.”

What she deserves—the throne, of course, from the Ozai’s Loyalists’ perspective—yes, she’d told them she’d fight with them for the throne—now she’s reaching for words, trying to explain she knows not what. But before she can say anything, Ty Lee lets out a snarl and lunges toward Biming, hands outstretched.

She must be out of practice lately, or tired this evening, or, or something, because a blast of fire hits her in the chest before she can even get close.

Azula reacts on instinct, leaping towards Ty Lee and catching her before she can hit the ground. Biming is saying something but it all sounds like static, or the buzz of crickets. She no longer feels the need to explain herself to him; he is only a nuisance, but the harm he’s caused… the fabric of Ty Lee’s shirt is burnt, and Azula can see the injury plainly on her stomach. Not good, not good.

She heaves Ty Lee over her shoulder, turns to the man, and blasts him with fire as he hit Ty Lee. He falls. She walks by him and out of the garden.


	3. Chapter 3

At the gate to the garden, the guards are lying still behind some bushes. Taken down by Azula’s contact. They must have been taken by surprise—or possibly outnumbered. Azula keeps an eye out for any other Loyalists, but as far as she can tell, there are none in sight.

Ty Lee is hurt, but she’s not unconscious. On Azula’s back she squirms and hisses, and Azula tells her, “Hold still.”

“Or what? Where are we going? What are you going to do to me?” Her hands hit out at Azula’s back, but there’s no strength or precision in the strikes. She can’t take Azula down by her pressure points in this state. Her lack of control must frighten her.

Azula says, “I’m taking you to the medics. If you don’t stop moving, you’ll injure yourself further.”

“You’re lying. You’re not taking me to the medics. You’re going to run away from the city—that man said…” She breaks off with a groan, but continues a moment later. “You won’t get far, you know. Zuko will stop you.”

So, in extremity, her true colors show: she doesn’t trust Azula an inch, and she’s Zuzu’s woman through and through. Azula exhales slowly. She can’t allow Ty Lee to bait her into anger right now, not when she could hurt Ty Lee so easily. Ty Lee has already been hurt enough this evening.

She feels a pain, sympathetic to Ty Lee’s, in her gut. Only it is less like a burn and more like a hollowness.

“I told you, I’m not running away. I’m going towards the palace, see? I’m taking you to get medical attention.”

“I don’t believe you,” Ty Lee says, but there’s less energy behind it.

“If I was running away, would I be taking you with me?”

“Maybe.”

Azula scoffs.

“You hate me,” Ty Lee says. “You’d take me with you to, to…”

She trails off. Maybe she’s unwilling to tempt fate, or to give Azula any ideas.

Azula laughs, though the hollowness in her stomach is only increasing. “Don’t be silly, Ty Lee. You’d only slow me down if I took you with me on an escape attempt. You’d fight me every inch of the way—and with your skills, you might even be successful. I’m sure that’s one reason Zuko thought we were a good match; you could take me down if you needed to.”

But all the talk of fighting is not soothing Ty Lee in the least. Azula clears her throat. “You saw I hurt that man, didn’t you?” She’s not sure whether she killed him or not. Usually she doesn’t aim her fire to kill, but tonight she was furious, and she can’t remember quite what she did to him. It’s a blur. “He would have been my ally in any escape attempt. So now that attempt has been thoroughly derailed.”

And if there is any lingering chance, it’s dashed when they meet more guards on the pathway. They surround Azula quickly and efficiently, hands outstretched and ready to firebend at her if necessary. Azula can see all the weaknesses in their formation—knows where she would strike first, how she could break through—but Ty Lee is on her back and needs help, and she’s just injured (killed?) one of her few allies, and there will be no escape made tonight.

She puts Ty Lee down carefully, steadies her on her feet. “Princess Consort Ty Lee is injured,” she says calmly. “You will see her to the medics. There are some guards injured near the garden as well, and there is a criminal inside, near the fountain. But you will see to the princess first.”

“Yes, Princess Azula,” one of the guards says. A woman. She and another guard take Ty Lee between them and head for the palace, slowly and carefully so as not to jostle her. Azula makes to follow them, and two guards step in front of her.

“Princess Azula, it would be best for you to return to your rooms while we take care of this matter.”

“My wife has been injured. I would prefer to stay with her.”

They eye her suspiciously. Truly, everyone in the palace is loyal to Zuko, and thinks her an absolute demon. Now they’re wondering whether she is the one who injured Ty Lee in the first place, whether she can be trusted in the medical wing, whether this is all part of some grand scheme of usurpation…

Indignation rises in her chest, but the hard reality of the matter is that they’re not far from the truth. And she could fight her way past them, but what good would that do? It wouldn’t make Ty Lee feel any safer to have Azula trail her to the medical wing smelling of blood and soot, with all the palace’s guards pursuing her.

She bites her lip. “Fine. I will return to my room. _You_ will inform Zuko that I want to see him.”

They bow slightly. “Of course, princess.”

Of course.

She is brought to her suite and left there. Outside her door, she can hear the guards who escorted her back gossiping with the guards posted to watch her rooms. She does not bother to press her ear to the door, to eavesdrop. Anything she needs to know about this situation she already knows, except what the medics think of Ty Lee’s injury—information they can’t have any more than she does.

She’ll wait.

* * *

She waits for a long time.

All night, she can’t sleep. Not that she tries, except for briefly. News of Ty Lee could come at any moment—that, or more guards to drag her back to prison. She’s surprised she hasn’t been thrown back in a cell already. Biming really must be dead; otherwise he would name her as a conspirator, wouldn’t he?

For a moment she imagines him refusing to name her, to betray her, remaining loyal even after she hurt him, even under interrogation, to the true Firelord. But it’s nonsense. People don’t stay loyal after you burn them. In the end, even the honorable Zuko was disloyal to Ozai, and Ty Lee and Mai were disloyal even though Azula never hurt them at all. Biming will never call Azula “Firelord” again, and if he’s still alive, if he gets word back to the other Ozai’s Loyalists of what she did…well. She’s effectively cut ties. Now they’ll go back to scheming how to free Ozai even though he has no bending anymore, and is rumored to have fallen into despair in his imprisonment. Anything better than Azula, the madwoman, the disgraced princess, now traitor even to her own cause—and all for Ty Lee, a wife she was forced to take, a woman who fears her and hates her and can’t possibly love her, no matter what she claims.

Azula is a fool.

And Ty Lee might die of her injury. Even if she doesn’t, Azula knows she must be suffering. Every hour of the night passes interminably, and Azula waits, and waits, and waits.

And she thinks and rethinks what Ty Lee said to her. Ty Lee’s assumption that Azula would steal her away and do… what, exactly? Ty Lee’s right, of course, to think of Azula as cruel and dangerous—more right than she usually is with her misguided pity. But Azula wouldn’t, she wouldn’t…

She wouldn’t have burned Ty Lee. And she wouldn’t hurt her. Then again, maybe Ty Lee was right that Azula would have taken Ty Lee with her if she were trying to escape. Because now, waiting in this room without Ty Lee, missing her, worrying about her, is torture. She wants Ty Lee to be here. She wishes they could have just finished up in the garden and come home and laid down in bed together, even if, like so many nights, she might not have been able to sleep.

* * *

When Zuko himself shows up at her door in the late morning of the next day, Azula is a little surprised.

He hasn’t come to visit them before, not since the wedding ceremony which is now some weeks ago. Longer than the space between his visits in prison. She supposes he felt uncomfortable facing her without the bars, and with Ty Lee at her side. She supposes she would feel the same way, in his position—and she hasn’t missed his company.

Still, she’s not that surprised he’s coming now. An attack on any member of the royal family, even a member by marriage, is high treason. If they’ve found out Biming was an Ozai’s Loyalist, the offense is even greater. And Zuko has always been fond of Ty Lee, too—not as much as he is of Mai, obviously, but fond. So he’s here now; the matter is important enough to merit his attention.

Azula would feel more worried about what he might do to her for her crimes if she wasn’t exhausted. “How is Ty Lee?”

“Burnt,” Zuko says shortly. Ah, of course he is feeling sensitive about this—about burn wounds in particular. They’re terribly common in the Fire Nation, but he still has a sore spot about the size of the scar on his face.

Still, his touchiness is unproductive. “I’m aware of that, brother. Have the medics made progress?”

“Some. They say she’ll be fine, but she needs to stay in bed for a few days. And she needs treatment.” Zuko lets out a small growl. “We need to work out an agreement with the Northern Water Tribe that will get them to send us a healer. But talking to them about it is hopeless. Even Master Pakku is against it.”

“Well, you know,” Azula says, “they were our enemies, Zuzu. Not everyone forgets as easily as you.”

Zuko looks at her. “I haven’t forgotten anything.”

They glare at each other for a moment. But it’s an old argument, and there are more important things to talk about. Azula says, “I’d like to be allowed to see Ty Lee, if she’s well enough for visitors.”

“Maybe you can.” Zuko sits down. Settling in. “First I’d like some answers. Ty Lee says you weren’t the one who burnt her, but you knew the attacker. Who is refusing to talk.”

So he’s not dead. Azula isn’t sure how that makes her feel. She hadn’t killed before—not with her own hands—and now she still hasn’t. But with Biming still alive, if he talked (and he would talk eventually, even if he wasn’t right now) it would raise questions about her loyalties on both sides, depending on how news of this incident spread.

Zuko asks, “How did you know him?”

Azula could lie. That wouldn’t help her very much, though. For one thing, Zuko always expects her to lie, even when she isn’t actually lying, so he’s unlikely to trust anything that makes her sound good. For another, Ty Lee will have told Zuko everything she saw and heard in the garden. Azula can barely remember what she said, but probably enough to incriminate her.

Fuck. She composes her face into a contrite expression. Half-truths, perhaps, will serve her best in this situation. Or truths twisted to be in her favor. Outright lies will not serve.

“The man is named Biming, I believe. He is a member of a sect still loyal to Ozai. I believe he intended to take me out of the city and have me join them.”

“And you were going to go with them? And what, start a revolution? Did you honestly think that would work out for you?” Zuko is scowling, big surprise. “I know these sects, Azula. We’ve been fighting them since they first rose up, and we always win. The Fire Nation in general doesn’t want Ozai back. The world doesn’t. Is that really a dream you want to chase?”

Azula’s jaw clenches. “I didn’t go with him, did I? I took him down for you. You’re welcome.”

“Yeah, that’s the confusing thing. You didn’t go with him. So where do your loyalties lie, Azula? Are you with us or against us?”

“If I said I was with you, would you believe me?”

Zuko ponders the question. They both know the answer is no. Azula says, “You’re going to use this as an excuse to throw me back in prison no matter what I say, so why should I explain myself?”

Zuko says, “I let you out because I wanted to give you a chance. Explain. I’ll listen.”

It’s annoying that Zuko has become more kingly when talking to Azula, while remaining one hundred percent a pushover while talking to anyone else. Still, at least he’s giving her a chance. Azula says, “I used the Loyalists while I was in prison to get word of outside. They listened to my advice sometimes—I tried to stop them from staging violent revolts as much as I could. Of course I don’t expect you to thank me for it. I knew you wouldn’t appreciate the favor, so I didn’t tell you.” She crosses her legs. “I had no intention of actually joining them. But I did intend to keep on using them for information, and perhaps hampering them. I doubt they’ll trust me after tonight.”

He studies her. She looks back calmly. There is no lie in what she’s said, not really. Even the last part, she finds, is no lie—she’d often thought of joining the Loyalists while in prison, but ever since leaving and marrying Ty Lee, the idea has been less appealing. This is the real world. If she ever chooses to move against Zuko, she’ll do it more subtly, and with her own plans. The Loyalists are unmanageable, and their plans never work. And they hurt Ty Lee.

That’s something she can’t tolerate.

“Fine,” Zuko says. “If that’s your story, you have intelligence regarding the sect. Tell me everything you know, and I’ll see about letting you see Ty Lee. If she wants to see you.”

Azula has no choice but to smile and bear it.

* * *

Ty Lee doesn’t want to see her. Not at first. Azula weathers another two days—and not gracefully—before Ty Lee allows her to come visit her in the medical wing, escorted by three guards who are clearly on edge. Azula puts on one of her better outfits and tries not to think too hard about why.

It’s a bad choice; in the sanitary atmosphere of the medical wing she stands out badly. Ty Lee herself is wearing only a hospital gown, and even most of that is covered by a cotton blanket. She looks at Azula tiredly, and Azula doesn’t know what to say, except to ask her how she’s feeling.

“Better than I was,” Ty Lee says. “The doctor says I could go home tomorrow, if I want to.”

Azula bites her lip.

Is she supposed to beg?

“Zuko came and visited me,” Ty Lee says. “Everything you told him, he told me. All about Ozai’s Loyalists and how you were only spying on them for his sake.” She smiles suddenly, a smile harshly fake. “He feels too guilty about you to not believe you. But you know what, Azula? I don’t feel bad about you at all anymore. So tell me, if you weren’t planning on leaving yet the other night, how long were you planning on staying?”

“I told Zuko I wasn’t planning on leaving,” Azula says. “I didn’t lie about that.”

“Okay.”

“I really,” Azula says, “didn’t lie about that.” Her composure is wavering—she didn’t expect Ty Lee to be openly hostile. After she burned Biming for her, after… “You always assume the worst of me,” she bursts out, “just like everyone else!”

“No, Azula,” Ty Lee says. “I always assume the best of you. That’s why things like this happen to me.” She gestures to her stomach, obscured by the hospital blanket.

“I didn’t mean for you to get hurt! I didn’t—he hadn’t contacted me, I didn’t know he’d be there! And he wouldn’t have hurt you if you didn’t attack him first!”

“So what was I supposed to do? Let him take you away from me?” Ty Lee sits up angrily, and too fast—she groans and doubles over, clutching her stomach. Azula darts forward to steady her, holding her by the shoulders.

It’s been two whole days since they last touched. Years went without them touching when Azula was in prison, but after being married for some time, two days is a lot. She feels terribly aware of her hands on Ty Lee’s shoulders, only thin hospital gown between their skin. Ty Lee looks up at her, and maybe she is not quite so angry as before.

“I wasn’t going to leave,” Azula says. She lets go of Ty Lee and steps back, but only a little. Out of the corner of her eye she sees the guards in the room relaxing. She swallows; anything she says here they’ll report back to Zuko. But there are things that have to be said. “I didn’t want to leave you. This is my home, and I… I’ve been happy.”

Well, happy might be an exaggeration. But something like.

“I didn’t want to leave you,” she says, “and I didn’t want you to get hurt. I’m sorry.”

Behind her, the guards are gaping. In front of her, Ty Lee is doing the same. The hollowness in Azula’s gut is gaping open too, and abruptly, she can’t help it anymore.

She cries.

Ty Lee really is staring at her now, but Azula’s view of her is blurred by tears, and she can barely hear what she’s saying. Then Ty Lee pulls her onto the bed and hugs her—carefully—and Azula sniffles into the crook of her neck. This is maybe the most Azula has embarrassed herself since losing an Agni Kai to a waterbender but she can’t help it. She missed Ty Lee, and Ty Lee smells good even through the scent of the hospital, and feels even better in her arms. She feels like mercy, something Azula has always hated but now, in this moment, needs.

She thinks one of the things Ty Lee is saying is “I forgive you” and for once she is happy to hear it.

* * *

Ty Lee comes home the next day.

Azula is told all sorts of information by the medics. What level of activity Ty Lee can sustain. What foods she should and shouldn’t eat. It’s beneath her, of course, to nurse another woman, even a princess consort, even her wife. But she takes the duty seriously. When Ty Lee tries to eat a rich dessert, she snatches it away and scolds her. When Ty Lee wants to do some stretches and practice gymnastics, she watches like a hawk and tells Ty Lee to stop when her face begins to look pained.

Ty Lee takes being injured lightly, more or less. It’s not her first time. In the course of her training she’s broken bones before, though in Azula’s service she never did. This is her most major injury, perhaps, but she doesn’t make much of it. Maybe she doesn’t want to see Azula cry or look guilty.

Azula is ashamed to have broken down so utterly. It’s worse because, having broken down once, she finds herself wanting to do so again. She wants to cry. She wants to tell Ty Lee about her nightmares. And—this is the worst urge—she wants to apologize, not just for Ty Lee’s injury (which is barely even her fault, really) but for other things. For the way she knows she makes Ty Lee’s life hard, with her temper and her hatefulness. For the way she’s treated Ty Lee in the past. For throwing Ty Lee in prison, for forcing Ty Lee to leave the circus with the threat of flames. For many, many things. Most of them far in the past now, things they don’t really talk about. Apologies won’t really do any good, and she can still remember all her justifications which still make a certain amount of sense. But they are wearing thin.

Sooner or later she knows she’ll break down and say a lot of stupid things she’ll regret. For now, she holds herself together.

When Ty Lee’s burn heals, it leaves a scar that is bumpy and a little red, though not as red as Zuko’s. Azula runs her hands over it, though she stops when Ty Lee flinches.

“Does it hurt?”

“No…”

“What, does it tickle?”

“No, I can’t really feel it. Just… it’s pretty ugly, isn’t it? I’ll have to start covering my stomach up.”

Azula shakes her head. “No. There’s nothing for you to be ashamed of.” She puts her hand back on the scar and kisses Ty Lee on the lips, probing deep with her tongue. When Ty Lee melts into her, she lets her hand wander lower, to other regions.

Now that Ty Lee is healed up and can take the exercise, they can go back to being a couple in other ways.

She searches with her hands until she finds the fold of skin she wants. She rubs it lightly, and with her other hand massages Ty Lee’s back. Kissing and rubbing, she is not surprised when Ty Lee gets wet. Then she drops to her knees to use her mouth.

She hasn’t knelt in front of Ty Lee before, but Ty Lee deserves it. She’s been so good lately, a good wife and a good friend, and Azula wants to reward her.

Later, in bed, she finds herself lying closer to Ty Lee than usual. So close their arms are almost touching. She still does not hold Ty Lee—she can’t bring herself to do it, and anyways, she might jostle Ty Lee in the night and hurt her stomach. But someday, perhaps. Someday soon, when both of them are a little less raw, they will be able to lie like that, and Azula thinks she will like it. Just not quite yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title was stolen from Shakespeare's sonnet 149.


End file.
